Kirtland Underground Munitions Storage Facility

Built in Albuquerque from 1987 to 1990 and opened in 1992, the underground munitions storage complex at Kirtland Air Force Base houses the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.

It is one of only two Air Force nuclear repositories in the United States. The facility occupies approximately two acres buried deep underground. The administration and HVAC machinery area is separated from the storage area by blast resistant wall and door construction. The ducts on the inside of the administration area are constructed of schedule 40 pipe and equipped with Temet blast valves to instantly isolate the storage side of the facility from the administrative side in the event of an “overpressure” incident. This is one of the more unique and mechanically challenging systems that Cobb has constructed over the years.